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Hi everyone! I’m excited to share this fun and easy sewing project with you! Today, we’ll be creating a simple felt stingray, perfect for kids ages 6 and up (with a little adult supervision, of course!). This project is a fantastic way to learn sewing basics while letting your creativity shine. Ready to dive in? Let’s get started!

What You’ll Need:

• Felt (in your chosen color for body)
• Free Sting Ray pattern (link below)
• Sharpie Creative Markers (or similar) for tracing
• Embroidery floss (try to match the colors to your felt)
• Needle with the big eye / Embroidery Needle (a child-friendly one works best)
• Scissors
• Stuffing (polyester filler, scrap felt, or even ripped-up plastic grocery bags)

Step 1: Trace and Cut

First, grab your free stingray pattern, Click Pattern Image to Download print it out, and let’s get tracing! The pattern includes the stingray’s body and tail.

Lay the pattern pieces on your felt and use your marker to trace around them. For any pieces that need to be cut out twice, remember to flip them before tracing; this ensures they match up perfectly when you sew. After tracing, carefully cut out your felt pieces, trimming away any visible marker lines. Don’t forget to save any scraps, as they make great stuffing for your stingray!

 

Step 2: Add the Tail

Now, let’s add tail!

Thread your needle and make a simple knot at the end of the embroidery floss, then line up the tail on the back of the stingray. Poke the needle through the tail, and through the back of the stingray, then poke it from the back of the stingray’s body, near where your stitch came out, through the back piece of felt and the tail piece, and knot your thread over the stingray’s tail.

Step 2: Assemble the Body

Now, let’s put the stingray together! Line up your two stingray body pieces.

Begin sewing at the back of the stingray, knotting your starting stitch on the back right side. Use a blanket stitch around the outer edge of the stingray’s body, pausing your stitches at the back of the stingray’s body, where the dotted lines were on the printed pattern piece.

How to Blanket Stitch: To make a blanket stitch, start by threading a needle with some sturdy thread and tying a knot at the end. Choose the edge of your fabric where you want to start stitching. Poke the needle up from the back of the fabric, so the knot is hidden. Pull it all the way through. Next, bring the needle back down into the fabric a little bit away from where you came up, then pull it through again. Before you pull the thread all the way tight, loop the thread around the edge of the fabric and bring the needle back through the hole where you first poked it up. Keep repeating this process, making sure to keep the stitches evenly spaced and pulling the thread tight each time, until you reach the end of your stitching line.

 

Step 3: Sew the Wing Flaps

The printed pattern pieces show a dotted line on the stingray’s side wing flaps, were going to follow the placement of the dotted line on our felt plushie with a running stitch, stitching from the back bottom of the string ray, up towards its head, with a running stitch. When you get to the top of the sting ray, you can either tie a knot stitch near it’s head and cut your string, then do another knot stitch on the head on the opposite side, or carefully poke your string through the middle of the sting ray’s head so it comes out on the opposite side of the head from where you started, then do a running stitch back down the stingray, towards its tail, so you end at it’s bottom.

How to do a Running Stitch: To make a running stitch, start by getting your needle and thread ready with a knot at the end. Begin by pushing the needle up through the fabric from the back to the front, pulling it all the way through. Then, move the needle a little forward and poke it back down through the fabric making sure to leave a small space. Pull it through until the thread is tight. Next, poke the needle back up through the fabric right where you came down so it makes a little stitch. Keep going back and forth, moving forward a little each time and sticking the needle down and then back up, making sure the stitches are nice and straight.

 

Step 4: Finger Puppet or Plushie?

You’ve got two options at this point. You can make your sting ray into a finger puppet, or you can stuff it and sew it shut at the bottom to make a solid plushie.

Option 1 ) Finger puppet

Knot off your running stitch after sewing down the dotted line of the string rays flap, and you’re done! Slide your finger into the opening left at the bottom and enjoy your sea pancake in all of it’s adorable glory.

Option 2) Fill and Finished Felt Plushie

Add your stuffing. Use small pieces of polyester filler or scrap felt for stuffing. You can also use torn-up plastic grocery bags if you have them! If it’s hard to reach all the way to the head, you can use the back of a pencil to push the filling in. Once your stingray is nicely stuffed, continue with the blanket stitch to close up the opening and knot everything off securely.

And there you have it—a charming felt stingray crafted by your very own hands! This project not only introduces kids to the basics of sewing but also promotes creativity and the joy of crafting. Happy sewing!